The invention relates to a device for sterilizing the mouths of containers, in particular the filler necks of bag type containers used for foodstuffs. Such as device is intended specifically, though by no means exclusively, for association with batching equipment of the type by which the bags are filled in sterile conditions with an edible commodity, for example tomato juice or the like.
The single bag is provided generally with a neck, usually of cylindrical shape, the projecting end of which affords a mouth to receive the foodstuff; with the filling operation completed, a stopper is inserted in the mouth to ensure a hermetic seal. Sterile batching is effected by way of a dispensing valve operated internally of a small sterilized enclosure, the bottom of which affords an opening designed to accommodate the neck of the container; in operation, the neck is clasped externally by a suitable device and held in position inside the enclosure throughout the filling cycle.
To ensure absolutely sterile conditions throughout the filling operation, the entire area of the bag encircling the mouth, hence the filler neck, must be sterilized prior to its entering the sterilized dispensing enclosure.
The object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient expedient for meeting the requirement in question through the adoption of a device which will sterilize the external area of the mouth and the related stopper prior to implementation of the filling operation.